Jim, Swims?
by Shadow of the Forgotten
Summary: Sequel to Jim's Vacation. Jim finds himself back on Heifong for awhile and joins up with his friends on the swim team. Everything's going great until a member of his crew shows up and lands them both in hot water. This story was done as a request.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own Outlaw Star or anything affiliated with said show.

* * *

When an alarm began buzzing loudly, the body buried underneath a pile of blankets groaned in annoyance. Swatting at the offending electronic, a tousled head of brown hair rose up from the bed and glared at the clock that continued to make noise; the numbers on the screen showing six in the morning. "Why the hell did I leave that thing on." The young boy growled, stomping on the clock with his foot and finally silencing it.

Running a hand through his hair, he yawned widely and blinked several times to try and clear his sleep clouded vision. Glancing around his room, he made a mental note to give the place a thorough cleaning before he unpacked his stuff. No point putting clean clothes in a dusty drawer. Flopping back on his bed, he yawned again as he stared up at the ceiling.

It was nice to be back on solid ground again, but he'd hoped they would've been able to get more accomplished on their journey. Instead they got another name that led to yet another place that held absolutely no answers about the Leyline. On top of that they'd been attacked by several bands of pirates, and before they'd had a chance to check out their latest piece of information, had been forced to hobble back to Heifong in order to get the XGP a complete overhaul.

Releasing a heavy sigh, Jim decided that he deserved at least another few hours of sleep. While it was true that the rest of the members of the Outlaw Star had been tested to their limits, he'd been required to stay awake for the entire last leg of their journey in order to maintain Gilliam's systems. If he'd stopped his work at any time they likely would've been stranded indefinitely, so he'd kept a diligent watch over the ship's programs for the full forty plus hours. Even with all the coffee he'd had, he was dead on his feet by the time they'd arrived at the dock on Heifong, and barely managed to make it back to their apartment before collapsing on his bed.

Of course in his need for sleep he'd forgotten about the damn alarm clock which was why he was awake only three hours after falling asleep. Rolling onto his side, he closed his eyes, but the damage was already done. No matter how tired his body was his mind was now fully awake and ready to take on the day. Tossing the blankets aside, he sat up and stretched his still sore muscles before standing and making his way to the bags he'd dumped on the floor last night.

It didn't take him long to find and pull on a clean pair of khaki pants and a dark red t-shirt and he soon found himself heading downstairs to the kitchen to see if anyone else was awake. Turning the corner, he wasn't the least bit surprised to see that it was empty. If his stupid alarm clock hadn't woken him up he'd still be in bed as well.

Shaking his head he headed to the fridge to see what was edible, but paused when he saw the stack of mail sitting on the kitchen table where Aisha had tossed it when they'd gotten back. The pile wasn't what caught his attention, they always had a lot of junk to go through when they got back from their space travels, it was the small white envelope with the logo for the Late Summer Moons Resort and Recreation Center.

Grabbing the letter from the stack, he carefully tore it open, curious to see what was inside. He already had the year long membership Lisa had promised him when he'd joined up a couple of months ago, and he'd told her he was going to be gone for awhile when he'd left so he had no clue as to the contents.

When the envelope was open, he pulled out the small stack and found himself staring at several pictures that had been taken during the tournament he'd participated in. Smiling, he looked at one that had been taken when the redheaded brothers Trey and Tony had ganged up on Greg and dumped a container of ice over his head. The blonde haired boy looked absolutely furious and Jim remembered the screaming chase that had followed their little stunt.

The next picture was of the girls Sasha and Julia as they danced around after their victory. The two had towels wrapped around their waists and were holding hands and laughing as they spun in circles. Sarah stood in the background smiling down at her younger cousin and Sasha's adopted parents could also be seen at the edge of the image. Moments after that picture had been taken, Sarah had pulled Julia into a big hug and begun crying about how proud she was. Everyone had laughed at the exaggerated display and then shortly thereafter had gone out for a celebratory meal.

A small note was wrapped around the last picture and Jim read it first. It was written on a piece of stationary from the resort and had Lisa's crisp writing on it. _Jim, here are some pictures I thought you might like from the tournament. Let me know when you get back, we'd love to have you join us again. Lisa._

Shaking his head with a smile, he set the note down and looked at the last image. It was a photo of the whole team, including Sarah, Amy and Lisa, holding up their medals after they'd been awarded. They all had huge smiles on their faces as they posed for the camera. Greg was holding up two fingers in a 'peace' sign, Tony and Trey had their arms over each other's shoulders, and Jim was squished between the two instructors Sarah and Amy.

Shortly after the picture had been taken Gene and Melfina had gotten back from their vacation and the Outlaw Star had taken to space once again. And now, nearly a month later, Jim found himself back on Heifong for a few weeks. He hadn't actually thought about rejoining the team until he'd seen the letter, but he figured there was no better way to spend his free time than with his new friends.

Without a second thought, he pulled out his cell phone and called up his swim instructor. Four rings later he got the answering machine. "Hey Lisa, this is Jim. Just calling to let you know that I'm back on Heifong for a bit and wanted to see if my spot on the team was still open. Call me back when you get this. Bye." Closing the phone with a snap, he tucked it into his pocket and headed back to his room to grab his jacket. Since no one else was up, he decided to head to his favorite coffee shop for breakfast.

Ten minutes and many 'hello's' later, Jim found himself standing in line at Fei Sei's Coffee. Glancing around the busy shop, he spotted a familiar head of black hair. "Yo Jack, long time no see." He called out cheerfully, waving his hand at the man working the coffee machine behind the counter.

The man raised his head and smiled when he saw who'd spoken. "Jim, it's good to see you." Jack replied as he wiped his hand on the brown apron that all employees of the coffee shop were required to wear. Setting the drink he'd just finished on the counter, he motioned Jim to come up. "Can I get you your usual?"

Nodding his head, Jim watched as Jack poured him a small cup of coffee and grabbed a blueberry scone from the display case. The scone was dropped into a bag and then both items were placed on the counter in front of him. "Thanks, you're the best." Jim said, placing the money down and taking his order. Before he turned to leave, he pointed at the blue Hawaiian print shirt and green board shorts the man was wearing beneath his apron and grinned. "A new fashion statement?" He asked jokingly.

"You know me, always one step ahead of the curve." Jack said with a laugh.

Waving, Jim shook his head as he took his food outside. Not bothering to take a seat at one of the small tables, he tore open his bag and took a whiff of the delicious smell coming from inside, and then promptly began to devour the scone. "Just as good as I remember." He sighed happily, licking his fingers clean before taking a sip of his coffee. Tossing the bag in the trash, he took another drink and started walking back towards the apartment to see if anyone else was awake yet.

He'd made it all of three steps before his phone started ringing. Struggling with his coffee, he finally managed to pull his cell out and hit the accept button. "Hello, this is Jim." He said politely, you never know when a potential client may call.

"Hey Jim, this is Lisa." Lisa's cheery voice came through the line. "I got your call a few minutes ago and wanted to catch you before practice got started for the day."

"You guys are practicing this morning? Do you have another tournament coming up?" Jim asked curiously.

Lisa sounded like she was shaking her head. "No, nothing quite that official. We've just got a one-on-one match against the Tenpa Empire's team the Hurricanes on Saturday. It doesn't affect our ranking or anything like that, but a couple of the higher-ups in the league thought it would be a good idea to implement random matches between local teams to keep everyone in a competitive mood."

"I see."

When Jim didn't say any more, Lisa snorted. "What do you mean 'I see'? That's not the attitude I want to hear from one of my swimmers. Now get your butt moving. I expect to see you here in twenty minutes. If you're late you'll have to swim laps." As soon as she was finished talking, the line went dead.

Jim blinked as he stared at the phone in his hands and then he smiled. Throwing his cup in the garbage, he shoved his hands in his pockets and made his way down the street towards the resort. It looked like today was going to be a very good day.

o o o o o

Since he was only about a mile away, and it was still rather early in the day, Jim made it to his destination with almost ten minutes to spare. As he did every time he arrived at the resort, Jim took several seconds to take in the impressive structure with its unique metal and glass exterior. Cocking his head to the side, he spotted a new building that he didn't recognize attached to the left side of the seven story main building. When he'd first seen the place there had been only four exterior buildings attached to the main one, but he had noticed construction going on so the addition wasn't all that much of a surprise.

Shaking his head, Jim continued down the stone pathway to the front entrance. There were several more fountains out front, and the outdoor tanning salon seemed to have been expanded as well. It appeared that Fred Luo's five-star resort was bringing in quite the crowd. Of course with all the recreational areas, it was to be expected. The place literally had everything you could ever want, not that he'd had the chance to explore anything other than the Olympic sized pool while he'd been there.

When he finally made it inside, he spared a quick glance around the fancy lobby area to see what had been changed there. The waterfall on the wall had been decorated with multi-colored light which gave the area around it a warm glow and there were several new expensive paintings attached to the walls. More of the leather furniture was added as well, which was a good thing since the lobby always seemed to have a lot of people milling about.

Not bothering to look at the directory on a nearby wall, he already knew where he was headed, Jim walked towards the doors on the left side of the lobby that lead to the pool. Pleased to note that the metal doors were still as amazing as ever with their gold piping and inlaid flowers, he brushed his hand over one of the pictures as the doors slid open.

From there he turned right and made his way down the hallway that finally brought him to his destination. Standing outside the door that led to the pool, Jim gave it a pull and stepped inside. Bypassing the smaller pool on his right that was used by the guests, as well as the hot tubs and sauna rooms on his left, he headed straight to the far side of the small pool where the much larger one was located.

A smile spread across his face when he saw his friends huddled around their redheaded instructor Lisa. Amy and Sarah, the other two instructors, were lounging on a couple of chairs in bright colored bikinis, laughing about something. Amy, the redhead, was wearing bright green and Sarah, the brunette, was wearing bright yellow. He was somewhat surprised they were still hanging around since they never really did any work, but then that wasn't any of his business.

Before he had a chance to say anything, a blonde kid about his age turned around and grinned. "Yo Jim, long time no see buddy!" He called out, causing everyone to turn and look at him.

"Hey Greg, it's good to see you again." Jim said with a wave.

The two redheaded boys came running over and pulled Jim into a big hug. "Man, where've you been?" Tony asked, followed by Trey. "Yeah, our jokes just weren't the same without you around."

The tall brunette girl walked up and smacked Trey upside the head. "As if your jokes are ever funny." Then turning a smile on Jim, Julia held out her hand. "It's nice to have you back."

Still being held between the two brothers, Jim shifted enough so he could shake the offered hand. "It's good to be back." Looking over at the little blonde girl who was still standing next to Lisa, he waved again. "Hi Sasha." His only response was a small smile and nod of her head.

"Jim, I see you've made it with a whole minute to spare." Lisa said as she glanced at her watch. "Dang, and here I was hoping I could give you extra laps for being late." Grinning, she headed over to join the group with Sasha and a rather tall brunette boy tagging along behind her. "Oh, and let me introduce you to Kyle. He was the one you replaced when we were taking on the Dragons."

Nodding his head in greeting, Kyle held out his hand as well. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Jim took the hand with a smile.

"Alright you guys, play time is over." Lisa said, deeming the conversation over. "Into the water."

There were several grumbles about her being mean, but everyone eventually slipped into the water, leaving Jim standing outside the pool still dressed in his clothes. In fact, he hadn't even realized they'd even been in their swimsuits. He'd been so happy to see them all again he hadn't paid attention to what they were wearing.

Glancing down at his outfit, he looked over at Lisa apologetically. "I'm really sorry, but in my haste to get here I didn't even think about grabbing my suit from home. Is there anything here I can borrow?"

"Don't worry about it, that suit of yours is outdated anyway." Lisa said with a wave of her hand. "We've got new uniforms now, see."

Jim looked at her black swimsuit with 'Summer Moon Typhoons' written in white across the top and the name of the resort written much smaller beneath it. It looked exactly the same to him, until he spotted the white swirl design on her right hip. "We got new suits just for this?" He asked, pointing to the design.

"It was a requirement sent down from the President of the league. I guess he thought our uniforms could use more pizzazz of something, so he ordered every team to add something like this to their suits." Lisa shrugged. "Personally I thought it was a waste of time, but a rule is a rule." Moving to the edge of the pool, she pointed back over her shoulder. "There's a pile of extra uniforms over there on the lounge chair, pick one and get changed."

As she slid into the water, Jim turned around and went to find himself a swimsuit. It didn't take long, there were only a dozen or so suits, and he quickly made his way to a nearby locker room to change into his new speedo. Within minutes he was back out and in the pool, awaiting instructions from Lisa.

Brushing her hair out of her eyes, Lisa looked down at the team that was treading water in front of her. "Alright you guys I want ten warm-up laps around the pool, any stroke, followed by practice dives. After that you'll each be doing practice drills for front and back stroke, which means I expect to see proper form and good timing, and then I want each of you to get at least five laps of both side and butterfly." Ignoring the multiple groans, she placed her hands on her hips and hollered. "Go!"

o o o o o

By the time practice was finally over Jim was beyond exhausted, and it was only a little past eleven in the morning. Pulling himself out of the pool, he grabbed a towel and waved goodbye to the Crain brothers as they took off out the doors. Sasha left early since she had Karate to get to, but the rest of the team had been put through the ringer. Or maybe he was simply out of shape. Either way, Jim was looking forward to a nice long nap.

"Yo Jim, you want to join us for lunch?" Greg asked, pointing to Kyle who was standing next to him and them himself. "We're going to head out to a nearby diner for burgers."

Shaking his head, Jim deemed his hair dry enough and began toweling off his body. "No thanks, I think I'm going to head home and get some sleep. I haven't worked this hard in a while and my muscles are really feeling it."

Kyle chuckled and nodded his head. "I know what you mean. After my arm healed and I came back, I thought I was going to die halfway through practice."

"I guess we'll see you tomorrow morning then." Greg said with a wave as the two boys walked off.

By the time Jim had dried himself enough to throw his clothes on only Lisa still remained. Throwing on his pants over his swimsuit and pulling on his shirt, he made his way over to her. "Lisa, what's the schedule going to be like for the week?" He asked curiously. The last time he'd ended up staying at the resort since they had two practices a day, but since this wasn't a tournament he wasn't sure what was going on.

Wrapping the towel around her waist, Lisa smiled down at Jim. "Oh that's right, I forgot to tell you didn't I. Sorry about that, I was more focused on getting you in the water than anything else." Reaching into the bag at her feet, she pulled out a piece of paper and handed it over. "We've got morning practice every day this week as well as an extra one in the evening on Friday. They run from eight to ten, today being the exception, and the Friday night one starts at six. Usually we'd only have three practices a week, but the Hurricanes are another team like the Dragons and everyone agreed that some additional practice was a good idea."

Jim nodded as he read over the paper. "So I only have to be here for two hours every morning then?"

"Yep, that's it. Like I said, nothing too intense this time." Yanking a large shirt over her head, Lisa shoved her things into her bag and hoisted it onto her shoulder as she toed on her sandals.

"Okay, I'll see you in the morning." Giving her a wave, Jim tossed the wet towel on a nearby chair for the cleaning crew to deal with and made his way back outside and into the early afternoon sun. It was later than he'd planned and he hadn't bothered to tell anyone he was going to be gone, so he hurried back home.

By the time he reached the door to the apartment, his legs felt like they were on fire and he was breathing heavily. "Note to self, never run like that after practice." He muttered as he reached for the handle.

"What practice?" A cheery voice asked over his shoulder.

Turning to face the Ctarl-Ctarl behind him, who was now dressed in a brand new green and white uniform, Jim glanced around nervously as he tried to come up with a believable lie. "I didn't say practice, I said breakfast." He finally said, nodding at his brilliant response.

Aisha scratched the tip of her long furry ear and looked at the younger boy curiously. "I was certain I heard practice." Shrugging her shoulders, she continued. "Whatever you say." Though she didn't sound all that convinced. "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to head out for some lunch. Gene and Mel have gone to meet up with Fred about more parts and Suzuka said she was going to a spa somewhere so it's just the two of us. And I don't know about you, but I really don't feel like cooking."

Resisting the urge to yawn, practice had been hell on him today, Jim shook his head. "No thanks, I think I'm going to take a nap. I'm still pretty tired."

"Oh, well I guess I'll have to go by myself then. I'll see you later." Ruffling the boy's hair, she grinned and headed off down the street.

Jim breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close. I really need to be more careful when I'm around here or else the others might find out." It wasn't that he was embarrassed or anything, he just didn't want to have to explain anything, or to deal with having the rest of his crew as spectators during a meet. He wanted it to stay his little secret.

Walking inside and making his way upstairs to his room, he pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it onto the floor next to his bed. Too tired to deal with his pants, he collapsed on the blankets and was asleep within seconds.

o o o o o

When Jim awoke it was well into the evening and though he really wanted to bury himself back into a cocoon for the rest of the night, he figured he'd better at least put some food in his stomach so he wasn't starving in the morning. Kicking the sheets aside, he rubbed his hands over his face in an attempt to wake up. It didn't work.

With a yawn, he stood up and slowly stumbled his way to the kitchen so he could grab a quick snack. The lights were all off so he assumed that everyone was still out, not that he particularly cared at that moment. Pulling open the fridge when he got to the kitchen, he grabbed a leftover sandwich someone had put in there earlier. Giving it a sniff to make sure it was still edible, sometimes things were forgotten in there, he shrugged and took a bite.

Not bothering to take a seat, he devoured the food and gulped down a soda before going back upstairs. This time he added his pants to the ever growing pile of dirty clothes on the floor and crawled under the covers in nothing but his swimsuit which he'd never bothered to change out of. Burrowing his head into the pillow, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

At least that was the plan. Not ten minutes after he'd drifted off to dream land his door was thrown open and a very hyper Ctarl-Ctarl came bouncing in. "Hey Jim, guess what?" She asked excitedly. "Fred gave all of us a day pass to his super exclusive resort! Isn't that awesome! That place has so many fun things to do; we're going to have a blast!"

Jim pulled the blankets tighter around his neck. "Mmmhmm."

"Make sure you keep Saturday free, cause we're all going to go together." When Jim failed to answer, she nudged him with her foot, frowning when he didn't seem to notice. "Fine, ignore me then. See if you get your ticket now." Sticking out her tongue, she spun on her heel and left the room in a huff.

Furrowing his brow, Jim tried to figure out why she'd been so upset, but as he hadn't really paid attention to anything she'd said it didn't work. Yawning, he got comfortable once again. He'd deal with whatever her problem was in the morning, right now he wanted to get a little more sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own Outlaw Star or anything affiliated with said show.

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When Jim's alarm went off at half past six, he woke up feeling refreshed for the first time in several weeks. "Man, I really needed that." He said with a stretch. Grabbing a clean set of clothes from his dresser, a pair of brown pants and a blue t-shirt, he walked down the hall to the bathroom to take a shower.

Fifteen minutes later he'd tossed his swimsuit into the washer and was pouring himself a bowl of cereal while he went through the unopened mail that was still sitting on the table. He'd made it through half the stack by the time he was finished and decided to leave the rest for later.

Tossing his dishes in the sink, he switched his suit to the dryer and went back upstairs to clean his room. He moved all his dirty clothes into the bin he used for hauling his laundry to the washing room and then made his bed. Hanging up the clean shirts he still had in his bag, he looked around the place and nodded in satisfaction.

There was a buzzing downstairs and he raced to the dryer. Grabbing his speedo, he thought about using the bathroom down there to change, but decided since he still had to grab his wallet he may as well do it in his bathroom.

By the time he was ready, he only had twenty minutes left before he needed to be at practice. Leaving a note on the table saying he'd be gone for a few hours he headed out the door. It was a beautiful sunny day and Jim smiled as he made his way to the resort.

Fifteen minutes later he was making his way through the large front doors. It appeared as though a group of tourists had arrived since the lobby was filled with people and luggage carts, but he paid the crowd no mind as he slipped around them and headed towards the left side doors that would lead him to the pool.

When he finally pulled open the door and stepped into the room that held the pools, Jim was literally right on time. "Hey guys." He called, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it on a lounge chair along with his pants and shoes as he made his way to the edge of the pool. Slipping into the water, he moved over to join the rest of his team.

Looking down at the kids, Lisa placed her hands on her hips. "Alright you guys, today you're going to get some dive practice in." Hearing the groans, she shook her head. "Now don't give me that." She said sternly. "With the exception of Julia, you're all pretty pathetic on the board. Greg, your starting form is atrocious. You two," She pointed at Trey and Tony when she said this. "Can't seem to manage your landings, and Sasha and Kyle won't do anything other than a straight dive."

"Does that mean we'll be diving _all_ day?" Greg asked with a groan.

Tapping her chin in thought, Lisa shrugged. "No, that means you'll be diving until you can get it right."

"Come on, I hate diving." Trey whined, Tony nodding at his side. "Can't we just swim laps like usual?"

"No. Now get moving or I'll take away our little field trip on Friday."

Six pairs of eyes widened and then they all raced to the diving boards, tripping over each other in their haste. Watching them, Jim looked up at Lisa curiously. "How come you didn't include me in that little speech of yours?"

"To be honest, I haven't seen you really dive yet so I didn't think it was fair to go off on you just yet." She replied with a shrug. "However, that will change today. I want you up there with the rest of them running through dives. When practice is over I'll give you your own little speech, how does that sound?"

The smirk on her face made Jim pale slightly, but he nodded his head anyway.

"Good, now get in gear and join the others."

Practice seemed to drag on forever in Jim's opinion, but that could've just been because they simply repeated the same things over, and over, and over again. By his fifteenth dive, his arms were starting to burn and his stomach was red from several failed attempts he'd had. After his twentieth dive, he was quite certain he'd died and gone to hell…he was mistaken.

"Jim, enough of the basic dives, try some spins next time!" Lisa's voice yelled up at him. "And keep your arms straight!"

Groaning, he ignored the snickers coming from his teammates as they mimicked Lisa's orders. The others had already gone through each form to their instructor's specifications, but he was still having a hard time getting the proper formation during his fall. Shaking his head, he raised his arms and prepared to jump when he heard someone calling him.

"Hey, don't focus on the placement of your body so much when you dive." Julia said with a smile. "Just jump. When you get into the air simply twist your body into whatever position feels natural at that time. It's the best way to learn, trust me. Oh, and you really should relax a bit more. You look like you're heading to the gallows." She finished with jokingly.

"Thanks, I'll try that." Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and moved back into position. This time when he dove off the board, he followed Julia's advice and was surprised to find that it was much easier. On top of that, he slid into the water almost as smoothly as if he'd been a professional…or at least not such a novice.

When he came up for air, Greg was grinning like crazy. "That was awesome!" He exclaimed. "You totally nailed that dive!"

Kyle gave him a thumbs up. "Nice work."

"Yeah, and here I thought you'd never get it." Trey added, avoiding the slap Tony had aimed at his head for the remark. "Seriously though, that was pretty good."

Lisa waited for Jim to climb out of the water before congratulating him. "It took you awhile, but I think you're finally starting to get the hang of it." She said, giving him a pat on the back. "I was almost tempted to have you call it quits, your stomach wouldn't have been able to handle too many more flops, but you surprised me with that one."

"Julia gave me some great advice." Jim said, grabbing a towel and wiping off his face. "She told me to just relax and move however I wanted. Said it would be easier, and she was right."

"Well whatever the reason, keep up the good work."

A few dives later it was time to call it a day and Jim was glad it was finally over. Sure he'd gotten better, but diving was even more work than swimming laps…and after all his failed attempts he was incredibly sore. Drying himself off with one of the clean towels left out for guests, he pulled his clothes on over his suit and began tugging on his shoes.

"Sasha, are you coming over today?" Julia asked as the two girls headed towards the door together. "My mom said we could use the rec-room for practice."

"Absolutely." Giving her friend a smile, Sasha shoved her towel into the large pink bag she used for her swim gear and then tied her hair up in a loose ponytail. "I'm going to stop off at home first though and change, can't really do much in this dress." She finished, waving her hand over the light blue sundress she was wearing. "I really should've worn shorts and a tank top like you, but I was in the mood for something more girly."

"Hey, this outfit is very girly."

"If you say so."

Jim was fairly certain Julia had stuck her tongue out at Sasha after that last comment, but by then they'd already disappeared out of sight so he couldn't be sure. Stretching his arms to try and loosen some of his stiff muscles, he waved at Trey and Tony, who were arguing with Lisa about something, and then headed out as well.

"Wait up Jim, I'll walk with you." Greg called out, running over to his side. He hadn't even bothered with a shirt, choosing to simply throw a pair of grey board shorts on over his speedo. "So, are you busy right now?"

Shaking his head, Jim shoved his hands in his pockets. "Not particularly. Why?"

"Just wondering if you wanted to head to the arcade with me. And Kyle too, he'll join us there later."

"Sure, that's sounds like fun." Jim replied after a moment of thought. "I haven't been to one in ages."

Greg grinned. "Great, let's get going then. We don't want the place to get too crowded on us or we won't be able to play the best games." Grabbing Jim's hand he started pulling him down the hallway, talking animatedly the whole time about which game they were going to play first, and how many high scores he held.

Chuckling at his behavior, Jim followed after him with a smile.

o o o o o

The next few practices flew by quickly. They'd gone through another whole day of practice dives, it would've been more, but Lisa grudgingly admitted that they'd all improved enough so they moved back to normal practice routines, and then their last two practices had been more focused on lap speeds.

After Friday morning's practice, Lisa had reminded them all to meet back at the resort at six that evening for their beach trip. She hadn't said where exactly they were going, but Jim didn't really care. He was just looking forward to spending time playing in the water and relaxing.

He'd been so excited for the trip that he'd made it to the resort more than fifteen minutes before the scheduled meet time. So he decided to sit down on one of the stone benches right outside the resort's main entrance. Setting his bag at his feet, he leaned back and began humming softly to himself.

Ten minutes, and several songs later, Lisa came strolling towards him wearing a red halter top and white shorts. She had a bag thrown over her shoulder and she was laughing at something someone had said over the phone she held against her ear. "Alright, I guess I'll see you two sometime next week then… Yeah, it's not a problem… No, I've got tomorrow's match covered. You two enjoy your vacation… Okay, I'll see you later. Bye."

Seeing Jim waiting there, Lisa gave him a smile as she shoved her phone into her bag. "Hey Jim, you're early."

"Yeah, I guess I was a little excited."

"I can't blame you; I've been looking forward to checking out the new beach for a week now. It's just a shame Amy and Sarah won't be here." Seeing Jim's questioning look, she explained. "They managed to score some cheap tickets to visit the hot springs on Ten Rei, so they're taking a week off."

"I see."

Seconds ticked by in silence and Jim was about to ask where they were going when he spotted the rest of the team making their way down the walkway. Kyle was walking with Julia and Sasha and they appeared to be in a serious discussion about something, the Crain brothers were fighting over a red and black towel, and Greg was leading the way with a huge smile on his face.

"Alright, let's get this party started!" Trey cheered when the group came to a stop near the doors.

"Here, here!" Greg chimed in.

Looking at their excited faces, Lisa pulled open the main lobby door and motioned inside. "Well, lead the way you two."

Trey and Greg exchanged looks and then took off down a hallway to their right, whooping and hollering in glee. Tony shook his head before following after them; Sasha, Julia and Kyle hot on his heels. When they all disappeared from sight, Jim looked up at Lisa questioningly. "I thought we were going to the beach?"

"We are." She replied, heading down the hallway as well. When he made no move to follow, she elaborated. "Since you haven't been here for awhile you probably don't know this, but the resort recently finished a whole new addition. This place now has its very own beach."

Jim's eyes widened in surprise. "Are you serious?"

"You bet. Mr. Luo heard several people complaining that there weren't any beaches within walking distance of the resort so he had one built." Continuing on her way, she was pleased to note that this time Jim kept pace with her. "So anyway, when I heard that it would be opening up tomorrow, when we'll all be busy with our meet, I asked if we could have access to it for a few hours tonight. My boss agreed and here we are."

By the time she'd finished her explanation, they'd arrived outside the large double doors that lead to the indoor beach. Pushing them open, Lisa led the way inside and Jim was awed by what he saw. He'd remembered seeing the new building when he'd first come back, but he had no idea it was housing _this_. Eyeing the beautiful sandy beach, he spotted a lounging area off to the left side where there were table and chairs for people to relax. The right side housed a small play area for kids as well as what he assumed was some kind of café. Moving his gaze back towards the clear blue water, he noticed that the building's ceiling and walls had been painted to resemble a sky so the room appeared to go on forever.

Dropping his bag on the ground, he yanked his blue shirt over his head and slipped off his sandals. Since he'd known they were going to swim, he'd chosen to simply wear his red board shorts instead of dealing with changing later, which he was extremely grateful for since he was able to just head straight into the water.

The girls, Julia, Sasha, and Lisa, had all wandered over to the chairs and were talking about who knows what. The two brothers, Tony and Trey, had decided to check out the play area, despite the fact that they were a bit too old to be using it, and Kyle and Greg were already out swimming, well dunking each other would be more accurate.

As he raced into the water, Jim noticed that Sasha had pulled off the pink dress she'd been wearing and was heading towards the water in a green one-piece suit that had silly looking frogs all over it. Julia had chosen to remain in her seat, though she'd also removed the yellow shirt and khaki shorts she'd been wearing so she was now in her lavender colored bikini. Lisa was the only one who remained dressed as she was, and Jim would've asked if she planned on joining them if he wasn't so busy splashing Kyle.

Ducking under the water to avoid Kyle's next attack, Jim decided to swim around and dunk him instead. Unfortunately, Kyle was wearing blue board shorts and he more or less blended in with the water. Greg's bright red shorts, however, were very easy to spot so Jim changed targets.

Before he could get close enough to pull Greg under, two sets of hands pulled him back and he found himself back above water, though this time he couldn't move. "Hey, what was that for?"

"Get him you guys!" Tony said with a grin as he and Trey continued to hold Jim in place.

"Oh no you don't." Twisting his shoulders, Jim managed to slip into the water before Kyle and Greg could splash him. Brushing past Trey and Tony, who looked identical under the water since they were both wearing the same black shorts with red flames, he sped through the water until he was out of reach.

Popping back out of the water, he kicked his legs as hard as he could in their general direction, laughing when the four boys got a face full of water. "Hah, take that." Jim said triumphantly, moments before he was shoved under water from behind. Spluttering as he rose above the surface, he found himself face to face with a smiling Sasha. "Oh now it's on."

Sasha grinned cheekily. "Only if you can catch me."

A few minutes later Julia joined them all in the water, but refused to partake in the splashing, choosing to float around on an inflatable lounger instead. Jim was about to ask her where she'd gotten it from when several more came sailing into the water. Grabbing for the one closest to him, he was surprised to find Sasha already climbing on top of it. "Hey, I was going to use that."

"To slow Joe." She said, paddling off to join Julia with a grin.

He thought about trying to get a different one, but decided to float around on his back instead. Closing his eyes, he listened to the conversations going on around him with a smile. He'd really missed this while he'd been searching for the Leyline with his crewmates.

Over the next several hours they built sandcastles, played Marco/Polo, had a race, and even managed to convince Lisa to join in a game of tag. It was the most fun Jim had had in quite some time and he was sad when their trip finally came to an end.

Motioning for the kids to join her, Lisa waited for them to grab their stuff before speaking. "Alright you guys, it's time for you to head home and get some sleep. I want you all well rested for our meet tomorrow, so that means no staying up all night playing video games." She said, staring pointedly at Trey and Greg. "Also, don't forget to have your parents/guardians sign in at the front desk. I know you've heard this a hundred times before, but last time we had several guests that hadn't signed in and I had to track them down. So _please_ make sure you get them signed in properly."

Seeing their nods, she smiled. "Well then, off you go. I'll see you all in the morning." Pulling her bag over her shoulder, she returned Sasha's wave and then followed her team out of the building so she could lock it up.

Jim walked with Trey and Tony out to Main Street where they went their separate ways. Shivering slightly, it had gotten a bit chilly since he'd last been outside, Jim picked up his pace and jogged the rest of the way back to the apartment.

By the time he got back, the others had already had dinner and were lounging around in the living room. Aisha was playing a game of cards and Gene and Mel were sitting together on the couch watching a movie. Kicking off his shoes by the door, he headed to the kitchen to grab something quick to eat. All he managed to find was a bowl of leftover soup and some nearly stale crackers so he changed his mind and headed upstairs instead.

"Hey Jim," Aisha called out when he was halfway up the stairs. "Your ticket for tomorrow is on your desk."

"Okay, thanks." Jim replied distractedly as he stepped into his room. Throwing his bag on the floor next to a pile of laundry he really needed to deal with, he grabbed a pair of pajamas and walked down the hall to the bathroom to take a shower.

Twenty minutes later he was clean and back in his room. Completely forgetting about Aisha's comment from earlier, he flopped down on his bed and closed his eyes. Warm and cozy, he was asleep in minutes.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own Outlaw Star or anything affiliated with said show.

* * *

The next morning Jim's alarm clock went off ten minutes late and he found himself rushing around so he could make it to the meet on time. Pulling on his new black speedo, which he still thought was a waste of money even if the swirl design on his right hip looked rather cool, he tugged a black t-shirt and khaki cargo pants on over it before running down the stairs to grab something for breakfast.

No one else appeared to be up yet so he was able to pour himself some cereal and gulp it down without interruptions. Tossing his dishes in the sink, he checked to make sure he had his ID and membership card for the resort in his pocket and then headed to the door. Slipping on his sandals, he took off down the street.

Choosing to jog the whole way there, he made it in a little over ten minutes so he had barely enough time to get to the pool before the meeting time. Racing through the lobby and down the hallway on the left, he threw open the door to the pool breathlessly. To his surprise, the divider wall hadn't been lowered for their match today and he wondered if that meant they'd have guests popping in now and then.

He didn't have any more time to ponder the thought because seconds after he entered the room he found himself being pulled across the room by Greg.

"Come on man, we've got to hurry up. Lisa is going to kill us if we're not there by nine!"

Looking at the large clock on the far wall, Jim's eyes widened when it showed eight fifty-eight. Picking up their speed, they slid to a stop next to Lisa just as the clock stuck nine.

Raising an eyebrow at the two boys, Lisa shook her head. "Nice of you guys to show up. Now get yourselves onto the bench."

Quickly pulling off their clothes and tossing them onto the pile with the others, they joined the rest of their teammates on one of the two benches set against the wall. The bench next to theirs was currently occupied by eight kids, three boys and five girls, all dressed in dark blue swimsuits. Jim noticed that their suits also had a symbol on them, a gold yin-yang shaped one it appeared, in the same spot as his team's. He wondered if that position, low on the right hip, was a requirement for all the teams or just the ones around Heifong.

Since Lisa was still over talking with the man he assumed was the judge for the meet, and the rest of his teammates were deep in conversation, Jim took the time to examine his opponents. They looked nothing like the Dragon's; all of them were sitting straight-backed and proper like with their eyes trained on the pool in front of them. Not one of them was talking, or even moving about like his team was. In fact, it looked as if they were all statues and for a moment he thought they were scared stiff. Until one of the boys, a taller guy with short black hair, glanced at him out of the corner of his eye with a look of pure hatred on his face.

Blinking in shock, Jim quickly turned back towards his team. "Hey, Julia." He asked the brunette next to him, drawing her away from her conversation with Sasha. "What's with that team?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, looking at him over her shoulder.

Chewing on his lip, he tried to figure out how to word his question. "Well, how come they're so angry at us?"

Nodding in understanding, Julia gave him a comforting smile. "Don't take it the wrong way, they hate everyone. Those guys belong to the Tenpa Galactic Resort and think those who don't have a membership to their fancy place are a bunch of worthless scum. They're all really rich and think that gives them the right to treat everybody else like dirt."

"Yeah, I hate matches against them." Sasha piped in. "If they lose they claim we cheated, and if they win we're forced to listen to them go on and on about how it's such a shame we're too poor to join a _good_ swim team. Their parents are even worse though, at least during the meet the Hurricanes keep their mouths shut. The adults on the other hand have no problem insulting us."

Jim glanced back over at the other team. "They sound awful."

"That's not even the half of it," Trey added as he shoved his way into the conversation. "They also have the best swim instructors in the galaxy on the payroll, and their facilities are ten times nicer than these!"

Having a hard time imagining anything better than the Late Summer Moons Resort, Jim was about to respond when Lisa came up and clapped her hands. "Okay you guys, the judge has decided the match line-up." She said, motioning them into a huddle. "Jim and Kyle, you two will be taking on Mei-Li and Han in a ten lap butterfly relay. Kyle I want you to go first since you're the fastest, and then Jim you'll take the last five laps."

When the two boys nodded, she continued. "Trey, you'll be diving against Su-Lin in the freestyle round and Julia you'll take on Chu in the high dive. Remember we're looking for proper form and landing here so don't overdo it."

"Greg I want you to do the fifteen lap freestyle race against Chen, and Tony I'm giving you the single lap sprint against Yumi. Sasha will be sitting out this match, as will the Wong twins since we're only running five rounds today. Any questions?" She finished.

Everyone shook their heads and Lisa gave them all an encouraging smile. "Remember, they only look tough. You guys can definitely beat them."

As soon as she finished speaking the judge took his seat and flipped on the speaker system. "Welcome everyone." His voice drawled out. "My name is Spencer and I'll be the judge for today's match between the Tenpa Hurricanes and the Summer Moon Typhoons. The outcome of today's match will not be included in the official rankings; instead the winning team will be given tickets to a movie showing of their choice as well as a pizza dinner." Pausing, he pulled out his score sheet. "Alright, it's time for the first round to begin. Kyle and Jim from the Typhoons, and Mei-Li and Han from the Hurricanes, to the pool."

Jim followed after Kyle to their starting positions at the shallow end of the pool. They were joined moments later by a beautiful blonde girl who reminded Jim of a porcelain doll because of her slight features, and a tall brunette boy we looked like he spent quite a bit of time at the gym. Without a word, Han took his place next to Kyle. Mei-Li on the other hand gave Jim a look of disgust and moved farther away from him, holding a delicate hand over her nose as if he smelled offensive or something.

Trying not to take it personally, Julia had said they were snobs; Jim took a deep breath and waited for the start of the match.

"Swimmers on you mark, get set, go!"

o o o o o

Aisha looked up at the huge ceiling above her with wide eyes. The place was big. No, scratch that, it was enormous. She'd only been at the resort for an hour and already she'd gone rock climbing and sky diving…the latter of which she planned on never repeating. "Suzuka is going to be so sorry she missed this."

Turning down a random hallway, the place was so big she kept getting lost, she stared in awe at the doors in front of her. "Wow, even the doors look amazing. That creep sure knows how to build a nice place." Continuing on, she absently read the placks on the doors she passed and was disappointed to find most of them were offices. "There's nothing interesting down here at all." She whined. "I should've just gone with Gene and Mel when they headed upstairs to the restaurant." Pouting, she was about to turn around and retrace her steps when she heard what sounded like a starting whistle.

Following the noise, her ears perked up at the sound of splashing water. "The pool!" She said excitedly when she found herself standing outside the large doors that separated it from the rest of the building. Shoving the doors open she stepped inside and immediately froze. There, on the other side of the room, was Jim in a little black speedo.

It took her several seconds to process the image, but when she did she couldn't stop the laughter that spilled forth. "Oh my god, he looks hilarious!" She giggled uncontrollably. "I can't wait to tell the others." Turning back towards the door, she was about to go find Gene and Melfina so they could have a good laugh as well when her sensitive ears picked up some rather rude comments coming from a small group of adults near Jim's side of the pool.

Ears twitching, a frown formed on her face and her original planned was immediately squashed. Narrowing her eyes, Aisha stormed across the large room finally coming to a stop a few feet away from the ones she'd overheard. "Who the hell do you think you are, insulting a kid like that?" She asked angrily. "That was uncalled for, take it back!"

Jim looked up from his spot at the end of the pool with wide eyes as he recognized the high pitched voice. "Oh crap, it's Aisha!" Torn between his match and getting the Ctarl-Ctarl out of there before she could do anything stupid, he remained rooted to his spot for several seconds.

Unfortunately that was all the time she needed.

Before anyone had the chance to figure out what was going on, Aisha grabbed one of the nearby towel carts and began waving it threateningly over her head. "I said take it back!" She snapped at the dark haired woman who was wearing a very expensive looking brown dress suit.

The woman looked down her nose and scoffed. "As if I would ever stoop so low as to give in to the demands of a filthy creature such as yourself." She said haughtily, then looking over at the three women and two men next to her she continued. "The nerve of some people, addressing me as though they were my equal when they're not even worthy of licking my shoes."

One of the blonde women next to her, with shoulder length hair and a dark green dress, nodded in agreement. "I know. What _is_ this world coming to?"

The rest of the adults all nodded their heads, completely ignoring Aisha as they turned their focus back to the match that was still in progress.

Pissed at their holier-than-thou attitudes and the fact that they so completely brushed her off, Aisha snapped. With a howl of rage, she brought the heavy cart down on them. There was a loud crunching noise as the metal smashed against the floor and towels went flying all around. Breathing heavily she released the tangled mess of metal and plastic, glaring when she realized they were all completely unscathed.

Jim had seen the fiery look in Aisha's eyes a few seconds before she attacked and without hesitation he ran over to shove the intended victims out of the way. Pushing himself off the ground, he turned narrowed eyes on his soon to be ex-crewmate, when a voice behind him spoke up.

"How dare you do that to me you uncouth little brat!" The dark haired woman yelled angrily. "Shoving me to the ground like that, inexcusable! I knew you were uncivilized, but I had no idea you were violent as well. I'll see to it you never swim on Heifong again!"

Blinking at the woman like she'd just lost her mind, Jim tried to figure out where all the hostility had come from. He'd only done it to save her from getting crushed, and here she was threateningly him. Looking from one face to another, he was slightly surprised to see that all of the adults near her wore identical masks of hatred. "… uh… sorry." He said somewhat hesitantly since he still had no idea what he'd done wrong.

Thankfully Lisa chose that moment to step in. "Hey, you'd better watch your mouth lady. Talk like that won't be tolerated around here."

Eyeing her disdainfully, the other blonde woman, dressed in black slacks and a cream colored blouse, made a shooing motion with her hand. "This discussion has nothing to do with you _waitress_, now remove yourself from our presence."

When Lisa snarled and moved to attack the woman, Spencer blew on his whistle harshly, pleased to note that every face in the vicinity focused on him immediately. "That's enough!" He bellowed. "Fighting like a bunch of children, it's wildly inappropriate. You should all be ashamed of yourselves." Shaking his head, he continued. "I have no choice but to postpone this match until you can get yourselves under control. Now I want everyone to grab their stuff and go home, and if I hear another word out of any of you I'll report this to the league and get both teams disbanded." When no one moved, he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "I said get going."

In a flurry of movement, everyone raced to grab their things and leave the room before anything else could happen. Even the women who'd spoken so rudely looked mildly worried by the threat. Throwing on his clothes and pulling his bag over his shoulder, Jim was about to duck out as well when a hand grabbed him by the upper arm.

"Oh no you don't." Lisa said in a tone that clearly said he'd better stay put. "We're going to have a little chat."

Aisha watched as the people left and grumbled in disappointment, she'd been looking forward to beating those snobs to a bloody pulp. Realizing that only three other people remained, Jim, a redhead who was currently glaring at him, and the man who'd broken things up, she shrugged and began walking towards the door. There were still a lot of places left to explore.

"You, cat lady. Get your butt over here right this instant."

Pausing, Aisha turned and raised an eyebrow at the woman next to Jim. "Me?"

"Yes you, now move it." Lisa growled, not in the mood to play games.

Doing as she was told, more out of curiosity than anything else, Aisha made her way over to stand next to them. "What's up?"

"Don't 'what's up' me." Lisa snapped. "This whole thing is your fault!"

"What whole thing?"

Closing her eyes and counting to ten, Lisa attempted to calm herself down. "You just ruined our match against the Tenpa Hurricanes." She bit out through clenched teeth. "And on top of that you ruined resort property."

"Match? What match?"

Seeing that Lisa was ready to explode, Jim took over. "We were having a swim meet Aisha. Now care to explain why you went crazy and started wielding a towel cart."

Aisha nodded in understanding. "Well that explains the matching swimsuits, though Jim I must say speedo's really aren't your thing." Grinning as she remembered the image of him she'd seen earlier, she was about to start laughing when a hand whacked her upside the head. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"Shut up and pay attention." Lisa said with narrowed eyes. "Since you're the reason we're in this mess, and you destroyed a cart and dented the floor, you'll now be reporting to me every day at nine-o-clock to work off the damages."

"But I didn't do any-."

Cutting her off, Lisa continued. "If you fail to show up, or I think you're lacking in any way, I will turn you over to security and let them deal with you as they see fit."

"Actually, I think I'll take my chances with se-."

"Also," Lisa added. "You will be required to write up an apology letter to the parents you assaulted."

"But they start-."

"Which I _will_ be reading over before I send it out to them so make sure you do it correctly."

Watching them go back and forth, Jim was tempted to slip out unnoticed, but Lisa still hadn't released his arm.

"As for you Jim, I expect you to join her after you finish practice."

Jim looked up at her in confusion. "Wait, what?"

"I think I made myself perfectly clear."

"But I didn't even do anything!" He whined childishly.

Lisa snorted at the response. "That's precisely why you're going to help her. You should've done more to prevent things from escalating the way they did." Placing her hands on her hips, she leveled them both with a fierce glare. "Now I expect to see you both here tomorrow morning, is that clear?"

Glancing at each other and then back to Lisa, Jim and Aisha both nodded in unison.

"Good, now off you go. I've got to go find housekeeping and get them to clean this place up."

As Lisa walked away, Jim turned to glare at Aisha. "Thanks a lot, now I'm in trouble too."

"Can it pipsqueak. Besides, we can always just ditch. It's not like anyone knows where we live or anything like that." Seeing Jim's face pale, she groaned. "Don't tell me you gave them our information?" His silence said everything. "How much do they know?"

"…we'd better show up in the morning." Was all Jim said in response.

Rubbing a hand over her face, Aisha groaned. "This is just great, now my time off is all shot to hell." Then a grin broke out on her face as she glanced at Jim out of the corner of her eye. "On the plus side though, I get to tell Gene all about your little swimming thing. He's going to die of laughter when he finds out about your speedo."

"Say one word about it and I'll tell Fred you're the one who busted up his pool." Jim threatened.

Shivering slightly at the thought of dealing with the eccentric man, Aisha pretended to be unaffected. "Go ahead; I'm not afraid of him."

"Of him, no. Of his contacts within the Ctarl-Ctarl empire…" Trailing off, Jim was pleased to see her eyes widen in fear. "I wonder how long it'll take you to get back in their good graces when they find out you're trashing high class resorts for no reason."

Aisha held her hands up in surrender. "Point taken. So, we tell no one about this?"

"Agreed." Shaking hands, the pair walked out together in silence and made their way home intent on spending their last day of freedom anywhere other than the resort.


End file.
